Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 1.2%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.1%, and South Korea's Kospi Composite was down 0.2% at 2079.87 . Hong Kong's Hang Sang Index was up 0.2%, Taiwan's main index was up 0.1%, and the Shanghai Composite index was lower by 0.2% at 2831.87.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up one point in screen trade.

The mood in the region was cheered by U.S. jobs data Wednesday. Data from payroll giant Automatic Data Processing showed an addition of 297,000 private-sector jobs in December, almost triple the 100,000 job additions which analysts had expected.

Japanese stocks were also helped by the U.S. dollar's surge against the yen on Wednesday. "The strong jobs data fueled expectations that the (U.S.) non-farm payrolls data to be released (Friday) may be strong as well," said Hideyuki Ishiguro, an investment strategy supervisor at Okasan Securities.

JVC Kenwood Holdings bounced 26% after firm officially announced a capital increase plan late Wednesday. The stock had previously suffered steep losses due to concerns about share dilution.

Manufacturing and tech exporters rose, spurred by the U.S. dollar's gains against the yen. Fanuc was up 2.6%, Kyocera was up 2.7%, and TDK was up 2.9%.

Shares in China were led lower by coal miners hit by profit-taking. China Coal was down 1.1% after rising 6.4% in the previous four sessions, while China Shenhua Energy was off 1.2% after gaining 4.5%.

"Although China's inflation rate may have slowed in December from the previous month, the chance of another interest rate hike is still on the cards in the short term," said Central China analyst Zhang Gang. He expects the Shanghai index to consolidate around 2850 in the coming days.

In Australia, light trading volumes and uncertainty over the impact of the floods in the state of Queensland kept the Sydney stock market subdued.

"Australia is continuing to limp despite the fact that we are well positioned for continuing growth in China and the Asian region," said RBS Head of Domestic Sales Trading Justin Gallagher. "We saw some good data out of the U.S. last night, which has given continuing hope on the strength of the U.S. recovery. But there has been an enormous amount of press around the flood situation and the impact on the local economy, and investors are a little concerned about what that means."

Resources stocks were mixed, with BHP Billiton off 0.5% and Rio Tinto off 0.1% while Fortescue Metals rose 1.7%. Banks were also flat to lower, but not by much.

Coca-Cola Amatil rose 1.5% despite saying flooding in Queensland and cooler weather on the east coast of Australia was hurting earnings. RBS's Gallagher said the stock's recent underperformance meant that the news had been factored in.

Insurance Australia Group rose 1.3%, bouncing from recent falls that were prompted by flood-related concerns.

The South Korean stock market was lower as "investors are likely to have a stronger appetite for profit-taking, as the main index nears the 2100-level," said Dongbu Securities analyst Yoo Kyung-ha. The Kospi was about 9% higher from the start of December.

But shipbuilders were up on hopes for new orders; Hyundai Heavy Industries was up 2.8%, Samsung Heavy Industries rose 2.4% and Daewoo Shipbuilding gained 1.0%.

Taiwan shares were slightly higher in choppy trade as gains in tech heavyweights outweighed profit-taking in financial stocks. "The strong Taiwan dollar has been weighing on tech stocks and now some investors are finding their valuations attractive again," said Grand Cathay Securities analyst Mars Hsu.

Shares of Yuanta Financial rose 3.5% after it announced that it will fetch a NT$7.19 billion profit from a planned sale of its entire stake in Singapore brokerage firm Kim Eng to Malaysia's Malayan Banking, or Maybank.

Maybank said it has signed agreements to buy Yuanta's 29.2% stake, and Kim Eng's Chairman and Chief Executive Ronald Anthony Ooi Thean Yat's 15.4% stake. It will make a general offer for the remainder of the shares.

Shares of Maybank and Kim Eng were suspended.

Elsewhere in the region, Malaysian shares were off 0.2%, Singapore's Straits Times Index was higher by 0.4%, New Zealand's NZX-50 was up 0.1%, Indonesia's share market off 0.7%, Thailand shares were up 0.2%, higher while India's Sensex gained 0.2%.

In the foreign exchange market, the U.S. dollar traded in tight ranges against the euro and the yen, as the market digested Wednesday's surge on the ADP jobs data and looked toward Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls results.

The euro was at $1.3132 against the dollar, from $1.3150 in late New York trade on Wednesday, and at Y109.37 against the yen, from Y109.47. The dollar was at Y83.30, from Y83.25.

Lead March Japanese government bond futures were down 0.58 at 139.86 points, dragged by weakness in U.S. Treasurys after the ADP jobs data. The yield on the 10-year cash JGB was up 6.5 basis point at 1.220%.

Spot gold was at $1,374.90 per troy ounce, down $3.70 from its New York close Wednesday. Nymex February crude oil futures were up $1.25 at $90.62 per barrel on Globex.

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